Bruce Jancin/MDedge News
Dr. Mayilee Canizares
And therein lies a key lesson for health policy makers who have embraced bundled payments to reduce rising health care costs, Mayilee Canizares, PhD, observed at the OARSI 2019 World Congress.
In Ontario, with patients discharged sooner and directly to home, there was the negative impact of increased emergency department visits after surgery, Dr. Canizares, of the University Health Network in Toronto, said at OARSI 2019 World Congress, sponsored by the Osteoarthritis Research Society International. “Our findings highlight the importance of coordinating the appropriate support services as well as the need to continue assessing the optimal discharge care plan for osteoarthritis patients undergoing surgery.”
Dr. Canizares’ study of the Ontario-wide experience with orthopedic surgery for osteoarthritis during 2004-2016 received the OARSI 2019 award for the meeting’s top-rated study in clinical epidemiology/health services research.
Using administrative data from Canada’s national health care system, Dr. Canizares and her coinvestigators found that the number of individuals undergoing elective orthopedic surgery for osteoarthritis ballooned from 22,700 in 2004 to 41,900 in 2016, representing an increase from 246 to 381 procedures per 100,000 people. During this time, the mean length of stay declined from about 5 days to just under 3 days, the 30-day readmission rate dropped from 4.2% to 3.4%, and the rate of emergency department visits within 30 days post discharge rose steadily from 8.7% in 2004 to 14.1% in 2016.
Roughly half of the operations were total knee replacements and one-third were hip replacements. The profile of patients undergoing surgery changed little over the course of the 12-year study with the exception that in more recent years patients presented with more comorbidities: Indeed, three or more comorbid conditions were present in 2.9% of the surgical patients in 2004 compared to 4.2% in 2016.
In multivariate logistic regression analyses, patient characteristics didn’t explain the change over time in early readmission or unplanned emergency department visit rates. However, discharge disposition did: By 2014, more patients were being discharged home, and in nearly half of cases that was being done without support.
Dr. Canizares reported having no financial conflicts regarding her study, funded by the Toronto General and Western Hospital Foundation.
SOURCE: Canizares M. OARSI, Abstract 16.